“So, has Huo Zhiyuan really fallen out with the Huo family, or is it all just an act? He’s the old master’s own grandson. Could Old Master Huo really be that ruthless? And has Huo Zhiduo passed along any useful information?”
Fang Jiaming asked.
“Huo Zhiduo and we are merely using each other,” Fang Tianhe replied calmly. “She isn’t going to act as our informant. We won’t get anything useful from her. If we want to know what’s really happening, we’ll have to start with the people around Huo Zhiyuan.”
As soon as he finished speaking, someone’s face surfaced in his mind.
The corners of his lips curled into a confident smile.
…
As usual, Xue Yanxin went to the construction site to sell boxed lunches.
She first handed two lunch boxes to the foreman, who greeted her with an excitement she hadn’t seen before.
“Miss Xue, you’re still coming to sell lunches? We all thought you wouldn’t be back.”
“Of course I’m coming,” Xue Yanxin replied with a smile. “We’re all just trying to make a living. Why wouldn’t I?”
“Well, that young fellow Huo quit his job. We figured you’d leave with him and stop coming too. Honestly, we were already mourning the thought of having to spend fifty or sixty yuan at a restaurant every day just to get one dish and one soup. It made all us old guys’ hearts ache. Never expected you’d still show up.”
Huo Zhiyuan had quit?
Why hadn’t he mentioned it?
Wasn’t he supposed to be away on business?
Xue Yanxin froze for a moment.
Could it be that Qi Junlin had already arranged a new job for him?
But… why hadn’t he told her?
A strange feeling of disappointment quietly settled in her heart.
Still, she quickly reminded herself that he didn’t owe her an explanation. Whatever he chose to do was his own decision.
After selling all the lunches, Xue Yanxin returned home.
She wasn’t in the best mood.
Before she even managed to insert her key into the lock, the door suddenly opened from the inside, startling her.
Huo Zhiyuan stood in the doorway carrying a bag of trash, apparently about to take it downstairs.
“You’re back.”
The instant she saw him, the disappointment in Xue Yanxin’s heart vanished.
Her face brightened immediately.
Seeing her smile, Huo Zhiyuan found himself smiling as well.
For a moment, he couldn’t tell whether he was happy simply because she had returned, or because her cheerful mood had infected him.
He set the trash bag aside, quickly took the equipment she used for her lunch stall, and carried it into the kitchen.
Then he poured her a glass of water.
Watching her gulp down the entire glass in one go, it somehow felt as though he himself had quenched his thirst.
An unexpected warmth settled inside him.
A quiet sense of satisfaction.
As if this was exactly what everyday life was supposed to feel like.
When Xue Yanxin set the empty glass down and turned around, Huo Zhiyuan immediately shifted his gaze away from her.
“Perfect timing,” he said. “You never told me where Grandpa Zhang lives. I was planning to take the trash downstairs and bring him the cardboard boxes stacked by the wall while I was at it.”
Xue Yanxin looked toward the neatly bundled stacks of cardboard tied together with rope, along with several empty plastic water bottles.
She couldn’t help staring in surprise.
It wasn’t difficult work.
But this was Huo Zhiyuan.
A young master born into wealth, someone who had grown up with every luxury imaginable.
Who would’ve thought he’d one day sort recyclable cardboard so carefully instead of throwing it away?
Then again…
He had even worked at a construction site.
Compared to that, collecting cardboard hardly seemed impossible anymore.
“You organized all these?”
Her voice was full of disbelief.
“Yeah.” Huo Zhiyuan nodded. “I’ve watched you do it enough times that I learned. You still haven’t told me where Grandpa Zhang lives.”
“Oh, right.” She snapped out of her thoughts. “He lives in the garage unit on the first floor of Building Twelve. If you don’t see him, just leave everything beside the big box outside his door. He’ll know it’s for him when he gets back.”
“Got it.”
He picked up the trash again.
“I’m heading downstairs.”
“Okay. Bye.”
…
Because she hadn’t eaten much lunch thanks to her low spirits, Xue Yanxin grew hungry much earlier than usual that afternoon.
Since Huo Zhiyuan was home instead of working late, she decided to start preparing dinner ahead of schedule.
The moment she walked into the kitchen, Huo Zhiyuan followed behind her.
The kitchen wasn’t large.
Normally, there was plenty of room for one person.
But with another person inside, especially someone as tall and broad as Huo Zhiyuan, the space suddenly felt cramped.
Even the air seemed thinner.
They stood side by side at the sink.
Xue Yanxin washed the rice in one basin while Huo Zhiyuan rinsed vegetables in the other.
The two sinks were so close together that they frequently brushed elbows.
For some reason, every accidental touch made Xue Yanxin nervous.
Water splashed softly into the sink, becoming the only sound in the kitchen.
Yet all she could hear was the frantic pounding of her own heartbeat.
Unable to resist, she secretly glanced sideways at him.
The setting sun poured through the window, bathing half his face in warm golden light.
His lowered eyelashes cast delicate shadows beneath his eyes.
The faint curve lingering on his lips made him look almost unreal.
Like a beautiful painting brought to life.
Her gaze lingered.
It felt so warm that it made her heart race.
Huo Zhiyuan had noticed long ago.
From the corner of his eye, he had been watching her the entire time.
There was no way he could miss those secret glances.
A smile quietly appeared on his lips.
He treasured this peaceful moment between them.
Neither of them dared make any unnecessary movement, afraid of shattering the silent intimacy hanging in the air.
“You only need to wash vegetables about three times,” Xue Yanxin finally said. “They’re already perfectly clean.”
Huo Zhiyuan paused just as he was about to rinse them for a fourth time.
He smiled sheepishly.
“I’ve never washed vegetables before, so I wasn’t sure how many times.”
Xue Yanxin laughed.
“It’s fine. As long as you know how to eat them.” She smiled teasingly. “Normally, once or twice is enough.”
“But I just watched you rinse the rice four or five times.”
“Rice is different.”
She reached over to take the vegetables from him.
“Leave the rest to me.”
As she spoke, she gently tried to usher him out of the kitchen.
Having him standing there the whole time made her oddly self-conscious.
“I’ll do the cooking today.”
“You?”
She looked up at him in surprise.
“The person who doesn’t even know how to wash vegetables wants to cook?”
“What?” Huo Zhiyuan folded his arms across his chest and raised an eyebrow. “You don’t trust me?”
His face radiated confidence, as if he were saying, Just wait until I amaze you.
After all, he’d worked in the fields before.
If he could grow vegetables, surely cooking them couldn’t be that difficult.
Besides, it wasn’t like he’d never cooked before.
He had always followed recipe videos on his phone step by step.
He’d never failed once.
At least… that was how he remembered it.
Xue Yanxin suddenly recalled how she’d once painstakingly explained something as basic as riding a bus to him, only to realize he already knew perfectly well.
She’d felt like the foolish one.
Maybe she really shouldn’t underestimate him again.
Someone raised in a powerful, wealthy family probably received a far more comprehensive education than ordinary people.
Maybe they learned everything, from running publicly listed companies to cooking a simple meal.
Thinking that, she finally relaxed and walked out of the kitchen.
The moment she disappeared around the corner, Huo Zhiyuan stretched his neck toward the doorway to make sure she had truly gone.
Only then did he pull out his phone and open a cooking tutorial.
“Heat the oil first over medium heat.”
He turned on the stove.
Then stared at the controls.
Medium heat?
There wasn’t a medium setting.
Only high and low.
He frowned thoughtfully.
High heat it is.
Low heat probably won’t cook the food.
He dumped the vegetables into the pan.
Unfortunately, he hadn’t drained the water first.
The instant the wet vegetables hit the hot oil, it exploded into a chorus of loud crackles, sending oil splattering everywhere.
Afraid of getting burned, he jumped several feet backward.
He waited until the water had completely evaporated and the oil finally stopped splashing before cautiously approaching the stove again.
Uh-oh.
The vegetables at the bottom looked like they were burning.
He hurriedly grabbed the spatula and started stir-frying.
The vegetables gradually turned yellow.
Why are mine changing color so fast?
He looked at the tutorial on his phone.
The chef’s vegetables were still a vibrant green.
Then he looked down at his own pan.
His vegetables had gone from yellow…
to dark yellow…
and were now rapidly heading toward black.
The tutorial continued.
“Add dark soy sauce and light soy sauce for color.”
The chef poured in the seasonings, and the vegetables gradually darkened.
Huo Zhiyuan looked at his own pan.
No need for soy sauce.
They’d already reached that color on their own.
At this point, he actually began to think he might have a natural talent for cooking.
Without adding any seasonings, he’d somehow achieved exactly the color the chef was aiming for.
The chef continued cooking over medium heat.
Huo Zhiyuan faithfully followed along.
Using high heat.
He watched as the vegetables on the screen became more and more glossy, golden, and appetizing.
Meanwhile…
His own vegetables progressed from burnt yellow…
to burnt yellow mixed with black…
until finally they became completely black.
They practically merged with the bottom of the wok.
…
Sitting in the living room, Xue Yanxin caught a faint smell of something burning.
She looked toward the kitchen worriedly.
Unable to sit still any longer, she stood and walked over.
Just as she reached the doorway, Huo Zhiyuan hurried over, slammed the kitchen door shut, and locked it.
Xue Yanxin was speechless.
“What’s wrong?” she called through the door. “Did you burn something? Maybe I should just do the cooking.”
Looking at the vegetables that were now exactly the same color as the wok itself, Huo Zhiyuan stubbornly refused to admit defeat.
“I said I’d cook, so I’m cooking. I haven’t even started yet. The smell is just from the pan getting too hot.”
Really?
Could an overheated pan smell burnt?
Xue Yanxin wasn’t entirely convinced.
She’d never experienced that herself.
Still, with the door locked, there was nothing she could do except wait outside.
Inside the kitchen, Huo Zhiyuan stared at the plate of pitch-black vegetables.
Throwing them into the trash was out of the question.
She’d see them immediately.
Dumping them into the sink wasn’t any better.
After a long moment of silent contemplation…
He steeled himself.
Ground his teeth.
Opened his mouth.
And ate them.
Start over.
This time I’ll get it right.
So…
The next dish.
Now he understood.
High heat definitely couldn’t substitute for medium heat.
This time, he’d try low heat instead.
Much better.
Nothing burned.
Quite pleased with himself, Huo Zhiyuan picked up a piece for a taste.
The next second…
“Ptoo!”
He spat it right back out.
“Why is it so fishy?”
Was it undercooked?
Without hesitation, he dumped everything back into the wok and cranked the stove to high heat.
Almost immediately…
The familiar smell of burning filled the kitchen.
He hurriedly scooped everything onto a plate.
Half the dish had burned.
Once again…
He clenched his jaw.
Closed his eyes.
And quietly destroyed the evidence by eating it himself.
The dishes were a complete disaster.
But at least…
He was full now.
After another round of clanging and banging echoed through the kitchen, Huo Zhiyuan finally opened the door.